Childhood
by PIIR-Pierrot
Summary: Just how did Naruto, a mere infant, helpless in his cradle, survive his childhood?  Living in a village hellbent on his utter destruction, how did Naruto live to see his first day at the Academy?
1. Memories

_**Childhood**_

Summary: Just how did Naruto, a mere infant, helpless in his cradle, survive his childhood? Living in a village hell-bent on his utter destruction, how did Naruto live to see his first day at the Academy?

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Naruto's earliest memory is one of fire. Fire and fear. His first memory is incomplete. It is shards and fragments; a flash of color here, a flare of feeling there. Throughout the entire ordeal there are feelings hate and rage and terrible, terrible pain. The hate and the rage are not his, but the pain is shared. Naruto doesn't understand this memory, though he somehow knows that it is not a dream. He also knows, somehow, deep down within his subconscious, that this memory is very important.

His first memory is vividly clear in its abstractedness. His next memory is just as clear: the sensation of flight. He is young. So young, in fact, that the blood on his stomach is not yet dry from when his umbilical cord was cut. The blood is staining the blanket that cocoons him in feelings of warmth and love. Naruto looks down, and the city of Konoha is flying by underneath him. The streets are nothing but gray lines intersecting the multi-color blurs that are houses. Awe-inspiring as the sight is to behold, Naruto looks up. Up at the blank mask of an ANBU black ops member. Naruto giggled, the sound starting in his tiny chest and bubbling up to form the laugh that only the innocent are able to make.

The mask glances down at Naruto, and then looks forward again. They are almost there. Seconds later Naruto is falling. He doesn't even have time to scream before he collides with the ground. His head explodes into stars of pain, and blood streams down his face from a gash on his forehead. An ear is torn almost straight through, hanging on by a thread of skin and tissue. One of his arms is twisted at an impossible angle behind his back, and the bone of his right shin is sticking through the skin and muscle. The pain is unbearable, and Naruto was screaming and crying and wailing almost immediately.

Then things took a turn for the better. White hot pain erupts from his stomach like a liquid inferno, more excruciating in its intensity than all the previous wounds could ever dream of being. The pain quickly spreads throughout Naruto's body, and all he can do is shriek and weep and howl as his fatal wounds begin to heal. It was not long until he fell, mercifully, into unconsciousness. In the last few seconds before the world faded into darkness, Naruto thinks he might have heard the sound of someone laughing.

The next few years of Naruto's life are blurred together. Images flit in and out of existence with no respect for time or any sense of order. In one flash of memory Naruto sees himself surrounded by a crowd of villagers focused solely on correcting the mistake made not so long ago. He recognizes the mask worn by the leader of the mob. Even though he cannot see the ANBU member's face, Naruto can sense his hatred, so powerful he can almost smell it. The only emotion more powerful than the man's hatred is his embarrassment at having accidentally let the atrocity live.

Naruto learns his first word just after his first birthday. That's pretty normal for a child. A little earlier than some, but that's to be expected when you hear the same word every day of the miserable existence that passes for your life. At only twelve months and two weeks of age, Naruto can already say "demon." Soon to follow are the words monster, devil, and evil. Those four words are literally pounded into his skull every chance the villagers get. One year later, Naruto's vocabulary has expanded to include fiend, die, worthless, and several curse words. He still does not know his own name.

In another segment of thought Naruto, no older than two, remembers a hand feeding him something out of a nearby dumpster. The hand is made of bright red fire, and there is no body attached. Naruto shrinks away from the hand, for it is hot and burns him when he touches it. But he knows he has to eat, and the hand is the only one willing to do it. Naruto forces himself to lean forward and eat the trash that passes for his meal. Though the skin on his mouth blackens and burns and his gums shrivel from the intense heat, Naruto attacks the food with a passion. It is the first meal he has had in days.

Only after the food is completely devoured does Naruto finally feel the pain from being burned. He does not cry out: he has learned that drawing attention to himself only brings pain. And then comes the healing. This time he cannot suppress the gasp that escapes from his lips. The healing is always far more painful the wounds.

Naruto remembers his first dream when he is three and a half. In his dream he awakes to find himself in the sewers. Not an unusual occurrence, for civilians often try to drown him there. These sewers are different, though. The sewers of Konoha are pristine. The sewer that Naruto finds himself in is dank, and there is mold growing on the walls. The sewers of Konoha have water constantly flowing through them. This sewer has only a few stagnant puddles in it. The sewers of Konoha have manholes every few blocks. The light shines though, letting Naruto know just where he needs to go to escape until the next time. This sewer has no manholes at all, leaving Naruto with a sudden feeling of claustrophobia and a shortness of breath.

He begins to run, frantically searching for a way out. Most children don't run until the age of four, at least. Naruto has been able to run since he was one and a half. In his frenzied search of the sewer he finds several dead ends. He doesn't even pause to wonder _why_ there are dead ends in a sewer, he just turns around a keeps running.

Naruto eventually finds himself in a large room. There are large metal bars running from the ceiling to the floor, almost like a cage. Upon closer inspection, Naruto realizes that there is, in fact, a seal with the word, "savior" written on it. This confused Naruto a great deal. If the person behind those bars was a savior, why were they locked up?

Without warning two eyes appeared in the darkness within the cage. A huge, sinister smile was not far behind. The smile was taxed, though. Keeping Naruto alive all these years had been difficult. Though the demon had nigh to infinite charka, but it was just that: _nigh_ to infinite. And over the course of three years it had been spent almost constantly. Be it fetching food for Naruto, scaring away the villagers, or healing Naruto in the aftermath of another attempted murder, the seconds were few and far in between when the Kyuubi was not expending his charka. Though the nine-tailed demon would never admit it, he couldn't keep this up for much longer.

"**Take better care of yourself, whelp. I will not always be watching out for you.**"

Naruto was confused for but one moment before everything clicked into place. The red hand that few him. The mysterious disappearances of his would be assassins after he fell unconscious from pain. The reason his bones set themselves and his teeth re-grew. Naruto listened carefully to what his savior had said to him and vowed to try his hardest to stay out of trouble. When Naruto wakes up he'll think back on this event as a fanciful dream born from a desperate need for companionship. It isn't until later, when he is training with Jiraiya of the legendary sannin, that he learns otherwise.

And this is where the story truly begins.

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_A/N_: If you couldn't tell, this will be a multi chapter story. My very first, just in case you were wondering. I'm excited about it. So much so that I've already started chapter one. I've got a lot of ideas that I want to put in this story. Please review. It really helps to motivate me. I absolutely will not withhold chapters just to get reviews, but it's easier to write when I know people appreciate it. Thank you for reading the beginning of Childhood, I hope you enjoyed it.

_Disclaimer_: I do not own Naruto.

_Word Count for this chapter_: 1,304

_Word count including all the previous chapters_: 1,304

Thank you in advance for reviewing

PIIR-Pierrot


	2. Threadbare

_**Childhood**_

Naruto ducked back behind the corner of the building. '_That was way too close_,' he thought. He had almost been spotted. A few seconds later an elderly couple walked past, not even noticing the five year old child they were practically walking on.

Once the danger had passed Naruto dared to peak around the corner again. This time the coast was clear. Naruto made a mad dash to the next alleyway. Naruto didn't dare to walk. Even though there wasn't a soul in sight, that didn't mean that there wouldn't be soon.

Naruto, usually hunting for food in the alleyways, is instead trying to make his way over to a small store near his "home." Naruto's current outfit is six months old. For most people, that wouldn't mean too much, but those people also have more than one set to wear.

The sleeves of the shirt no longer existed. That was normal, though. Sleeves are usually one of the first things to go. They're easy to grab and even easier to tear. The legs of Naruto's pants had long since been scratched away, and the knees of what was left were worn clean through.

That was everything. Naruto had gotten hold of a sweater, once. For two whole days he hadn't had to worry about freezing during the nights. It may be called the Land of Fire, but at night temperatures fell to below freezing.

At the end of Naruto's second day with his sweater, a hideous combination of green and yellow that appeared to have been vomited on, he was set upon by an angry mob. Quick as a flash, the sweater was gone, and Naruto was left only with the barest scraps of clothing once again. After all, no one wants to see the demon completely nude. The stick-figure limbs and skeletal figure make Naruto far too human for their liking.

Naruto's only thought had been, _'Is it Sunday already?'_

Naruto could set his watch to the beatings he received every week. That is, if he had a watch. If he knew what a watch _was_.

The list of ninjas KIA comes out on Sunday at eight o'clock in the morning. Church services are held in their honor later that night, at sunset. Naruto is beaten twice every Sunday. If he's lucky.

The other days are more random. The whim of a villager could leave Naruto bruised and unconscious. The whim of a villager could leave Naruto without a leg, or with a severed spinal cord.

He tries not to think about how many times he should have died. It is hard not to, though, when your entire life is a constant struggle that the world wants you to lose. Naruto is no stranger to death, and has forgotten what it is like to fear for his life.

Naruto shakes his head, snapping himself back to the present. He needed clothes. Today he had woken up frozen. His feet and fingers were black with frostbite. So he bit his fingers off, one by one, and let them grow back. The pain was unbearable, as always, but he was as used to it as he could be by now.

With one last sigh, Naruto sprints to the next building. Across the street he can see his goal: The Distribution Bin. Clothes, food, and more were given to the homeless of Konoha from bins like this one all around the city. Naruto is, as always, the exception to the rule.

Today Naruto is lucky. The area is deserted. He allows a small smile to creep onto his face before making the final sprint.

A leap and he is there, swimming in the shirts and pants and shoes and it's more than he ever imagined, and none of it will be his, save one unfortunate set. Naruto picks a pair of brown shorts, and an equally brown shirt. All the better to remain unseen.

The jubilant Naruto didn't even hear the footsteps.

"Naruto-kun?"

With a gasp of surprise and pleasure Naruto looked up to behold the one being in all of Konoha who would speak to him without fists.

"'Kage!"

Sarutobi's eyes crinkled with a smile, holding back tears. Being the Hokage, he only saw Naruto once in a blue moon. He had tried, really tried, to find a home for Naruto. But no civilian would take him in, and there wasn't enough money in the Land of Fire to bribe someone.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but I must move on. I'm late for the meeting as it is." And with that, he left.

Naruto wasn't sure what a "meeting" was, and he really didn't care. Right now he needed to leave before someone else found him. And they would find him; they always did.

Two days later the pants were torn and the shirt was sleeveless. It was a new record for Naruto: the longest he had ever had a set of proper clothes. He was getting better at hiding.

Naruto let himself chuckle as his shin forced itself back into the skin. His savior would be so proud.

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_A/N:_ Oh man, I'm so sorry that this update took so long. It's been over a month, I think. For some reason, though, this chapter just didn't sound right. I've rewritten it over and over, but it never seemed to flow. School hasn't been much help, either. I usually have 5 hours of work a night, and then I have a part time job on the weekends. Goodbye free time. On the plus side, I have several one-shot ideas that I'm eager to write, and I managed to use part of my holiday break to finish this chapter. I'm going to try, really try, to write an outline for this story so it's easier to write. I'm sorry the first chapter is so short; I just never realized how hard it was to write filler chapters.

_Word Count for chapter one: _848

_Word Count including previous chapters: _2,152

Please review. It really brightens up my day when I get a review. Thank you for reviewing, and thank you for reading Childhood.

PIIR-Pierrot


	3. To Be Hokage Is My Dream

_**Childhood**_

Six months later nothing much had changed. Naruto still teetered on the edge of existence. He still received beatings on a regular basis. His clothes were still ripped and the Hokage still didn't have enough time to spend with him.

It worried Sarutobi. How bruised Naruto was, the dirt that constantly covered his small, malnourished body. The clothing that was never whole and always had blood-stains.

'I vow, as of this moment, to spend more time with Uzumaki Naruto.'

As thus the unofficial inclination became law in Sarutobi's mind. Every week he cleared at least one hour to spend with the boy. If that meant a little less sleep and a little more stress, so be it. What were a few hours of lost sleep compared to the trials and tribulations that the boy constantly underwent?

The first week that Sarutobi spent with Naruto changed Naruto's life forever. He found the boy in the midst of one of his regular beatings, much to his dismay and horror. Abstractly knowing about the beatings was completely different from seeing them first hand. It scared him, made him angry.

All Sarutobi had to do was mass some of his chakra and the group scattered. It was enough for now, but they would be back.

And with that small, inconsequential act, Naruto's life was forever changed. This man, the Hokage, had just saved him. For the first time in his short, miserable, eternal life of anguish, someone had shown him kindness. Someone had cared. Right then and there, Naruto promised himself that he would become Hokage, and he would protect those who needed it, just like this person had.

Never mind that it had only happened once. Never mind that it wouldn't always happen again. Never mind that even this one act of mercy would earn Naruto an even worse punishment later that very same day. Someone had cared, and that was hope enough for Naruto.

The Third was more realistic. 'Is there truly no hope for Naruto?' It had been over five years since the Kyuubi attack and the death of the Fourth. If the people of Konoha had not made amends by now, there was little chance of them ever doing so.

One doesn't become Hokage by being a quitter, though, and Sarutobi was exceptionally intelligent. And, as always, an idea came to him. A brilliant idea, completely unique and utterly ingenious.

He started teaching Naruto the Henge technique that very same day.

Naruto was never a very quick learner, nor would he ever be one. But he was determined to learn and eager to please. In much the same manner that he would eventually learn the Rasengan, so too did Naruto learn the Henge justsu.

Over the course of the next two months, Sarutobi made sure that he saw Naruto at least twice a week.

By the third week Naruto had come surprisingly far in his training. Though he made many mistakes, he trained fanatically. Sarutobi left Naruto that Saturday evening feeling satisfied and, for maybe the first time, optimistic that Naruto might be able to survive in this world.

Sarutobi's beautiful fantasy was shattered when, two days later, he returned to find Naruto unconscious on the ground. Some of his wounds were still bleeding, even though the attack had clearly happened over a day ago. It was a testament to just how bad those wounds must have originally been.

What Sarutobi did not know was that Naruto had been seen practicing ninjutsu. That he had been the cause of Naruto's suffering. That by trying to give Naruto a way to hide, a way to live free from the constant torment of his innumerable abusers, he had done just the opposite.

So Sarutobi fixed the boy up, and promised himself to do better next time, to make sure Naruto was never hurt this badly again. Promises are made to be broken.

But Naruto is jaded by this point, and doesn't expect anyone to help him. No one will pity him; no one, except his savior. The one person who had always been there for him.

This was no exception. The only reason Naruto had been learning as quickly as he had been was because of the Kyuubi. His constant tutelage helped Naruto learn in leaps and bounds. And that knowledge wasn't limited to just the Henge, either. No, he taught Naruto how to hide. Simple as it sounds, hiding involves a lot of complicated techniques.

You have to become invisible and silent. You have to cover your sense of smell, and you need to be able to do it immediately and under pressure.

Naruto only mastered the first and last of those, four, but that was enough. Those techniques, combined with his eventual mastery of the Henge, ensured his continued existence through childhood.

Month later, after Sarutobi had once again been too busy to see Naruto, after Naruto had learned how to change his appearance at will, he was standing in front of the same clothing bin. This time, things would be different.

With the ease of a true ninja Naruto brought his hands up. His fingers moved, almost of their own accord, anticipating what was to come. A burst of smoke, and Naruto was no more.

In his place was a short, brown-haired lad with gray eyes. Though the boy tried to look confident, his hunched shoulders and small, timid steps belied a troubled past. Nevertheless, no one challenged him as he made his way towards the clothes. And that was enough.

Naruto picked out a dark green shirt and a pair of dark blue pants. Nervous eyes flitted back and forth, searching for the people he was sure were going to attack at any moment. When no such assault came, Naruto let out the smallest of sighs of relief. Turning around, he made his way back to the dark alleyways.

A _poof_ of smoke later and Naruto existed once more. Trembling knees could no longer support his weight, and he fell to the ground. Soon his entire body was shaking, and Naruto was crying. His first tears of joy.

Not a sound escaped from his lips. His shuddering cries were silent, as always. But he was as close to being happy as he had ever been, and he would let himself cry, just this once.

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_A/N: _Chapter Two of Childhood is done. Once again, thanks for reading! I really made an effort to get this done at a (somewhat) reasonable pace, but it still took too long, in my opinion. On the plus side, I've written a definite outline, so updates should be easier to write. I also learned a fantastic word today: Co. It's a non-gender specific pronoun. How cool is that?

_Word Count for chapter two:_ 1,056

_Word Count including previous chapters:_ 3,208

Once more, please review. You've seen just how effective reviews are for getting chapters done! Anyway, thanks once again for reading Childhood.

PIIR-Pierrot


	4. Reflections

_**Childhood**_

A piece of glass crunched underneath Naruto Uzumaki's six and a half year old foot. By now his calloused feet were tough enough to avoid getting cut on simple glass. Naruto was walking through an alleyway that connected one of the main streets of Konoha to one of the back streets.

With world-weary slowness he let his gaze wander up from his dirty feet. Up over the mold covered walls of the building. Bricks that were once a bright, vibrant red, full of possibilities and potential, are now black and green, a decaying prison of despair, trapping the resident inside. His eyes wandered still further, catching sight of the rotten wooden windowsill. A lone termite was nibbling away at it, and all Naruto could think about was how god damn hungry this bug must be if it wasn't running away from him.

He didn't know why, but animals had always feared him. Angry dogs that barked at every man, woman, and child that walked in front of the front would fall silent at his approach. With tails curled between their legs they would slink away, at least until Naruto had passed.

Birds singing in trees would fall silent when he was around, and if he drew near they flew away. The only upside to this mysterious superpower was that bugs and vermin rarely bothered him when he slept on the streets. It hurt, though, seeing all the other boys laughing with their pet dogs. It seemed impossible that Naruto would ever get to play frisbee with a pup, or have a cat curl up in his lap, or even work with the messenger birds he saw flying in and out of Sarutobi's office all the time.

Naruto had no idea that it was all the work of his savior. That whenever he was close to an animal its every instinct screamed at it to run away, to hide, to _live _at any cost. No, Naruto was still young enough to think that his savior could do no wrong and still naïve enough to believe that protection was never a double-edged sword.

Naruto's eyes traveled still higher, noticing the panes of glass that were missing from the hole in the wall that used to be a window. Towards the top there was a small shard still hanging. Naruto's eye caught itself in the reflection, and it didn't let go.

One brilliant, blue eye stared back at another dull, defeated one. The story of an orphan is always a tragedy, but the story of an orphan with no one to care for it is almost always an obituary. Living for all these years had not been easy, and the hardships had been constant and never ending.

Sometimes, when Naruto felt safe enough to let his guard down, to rest for a moment, he would think back on his early years. At just six years old Naruto was already remembering "the good old days" of his youth. Days in which his savior did all the living for him. Days in which he didn't, could not, would _never_ remember the day before, and every moment was lived as new.

But life is cruel, and children grow up too quickly in a village where the life expectancy of any given person is just twenty three. It wasn't long before the previously unknown feelings of misery and despair become two of Naruto's closest companions. Longing was quick to follow.

Naruto learned very quickly that crying never got you anything except unwanted attention, but it was so hard to stop the tears from flowing every time he glimpsed a mother dragging a child, kicking and screaming, away from his friends. Every time he saw the silhouette of a father beating his child. Every time he observed to siblings fighting tooth and nail over their only toy.

Gods, but he wanted a family. A mother to kiss him on the forehead and tell him that "you can't play with kids because you need to be helping Mommy find food." A father to hug him and lie to him that "I didn't mean it, really," after the bruises had begun to form. A brother or a sister to say "you can have it next time," and then fight for it tooth and nail anyways.

Slowly, the bright, blue eye dulled. Tears welled up, and soon two identical tears fell from two equally dead eyes.

And that was it. Naruto's jaw clenched, his hands morphed into fists. He would not cry; he would not break down. Life does not take pity on the weak, why should he? His savior told him to take care of himself; he's not about to disappoint the closest thing to a family he has.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. His mouth, previously a perfect line of apathy, changed into a grimace of determination. He raised his fist overhead and brought it crashing down. Splinters of wood flew from the windowsill, eventually settling on Naruto's blood-stained shirt. The termite was dead.

Turning on his heel, Naruto sprinted the rest of the distance through the alleyway.

Faster and faster, past the exit. Further, farther, on to the next alley. Run, run, as fast as you can, you can never escape from yourself.

Eventually Naruto ran himself to exhaustion, and he passed out. As with most children, he could not clearly remember why he had been running in the first place. Time moves on, though, and he didn't think on it for too long. It was evening time, Naruto's favorite time of the day.

All of the families were at home eating dinner, talking with each other, and all in all, living the life Naruto would never have.

This was Naruto's favorite time of day because he could walk around the city almost unchallenged and watch the families. It was a sad substitute for actually having one, but window shopping for families was as close as he could get.

Naruto frittered away the evenings imagining himself living in that household, or having that person for a parent. And when darkness finally fell, his imaginings continued in his dreams.

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_A/N: _I'm so sorry this took so long to update! I meant to have this ready by late December, but the holidays ate up all of the time I thought I had. I think I'm going to write up a one-shot soon, if only to get some of the ideas in my head onto paper. I tried to put more emotion into this chapter, as opposed to my more factual writings of previous chapters. The one-shot I'm talking about will be like that, too. It's about Chouji. There's not much of an outline, yet, but the overall theme is done and the title is written. Please, please review. I'm hoping to break thirty with this chapter.

_Word Count for chapter three: _1,018

_Word Count including all chapters: _4,226

Once again, reviews are always appreciated! Thank you all for reading Childhood!

PIIR-Pierrot


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